South Korean Baby Dies as Parents Tend to Virtual Daughter

Can you imagine neglecting your own child in favor of a virtual one? A South Korean couple did exactly that, and their 3-month-old daughter died of malnutrition. The dad, 41, and mom, 25, both unemployed and depressed, spent long periods of time at an Internet cafe preoccupied with their online child and only fed their human preemie once a day. A report said:

The couple had become obsessed with nurturing a virtual girl called Anima in the popular role-playing game Prius Online, police said on Friday. The game enables players to interact with Anima and as they do so, help her to recover her lost memory and develop emotions.

The parents have since been arrested. While this is an extreme and devastating example, it begs a question about technology. More than ever, parents have the power to stay connected on gaming and social networking sites. And, what starts out as a few minutes online can quickly turn into hours. Do you think today's kids will be adversely affected by all the time their moms and dads spend on the computer?

wow. this is so so sad & i agree the root issue here is depression. it's disturbing that friends/family of this couple didn't notice this trend. incredibly scary how isolating depression/addictions can be.

Starbucks, you're right, depression is the main problem here. What a shame. There are so many people who would have taken that little girl in and given her the home she deserved.
When my girl was released from the hospital after being born, I remember saying, "You're just letting me leave with her?" Shouldn't there be a mandatory parenting class or a psychological evaluation before someone can bring a baby home?

Starbucks, you're right, depression is the main problem here. What a shame. There are so many people who would have taken that little girl in and given her the home she deserved.When my girl was released from the hospital after being born, I remember saying, "You're just letting me leave with her?" Shouldn't there be a mandatory parenting class or a psychological evaluation before someone can bring a baby home?

Wow, that just made me choke up. Especially as a new mom it just blows my mind how people can hurt or neglect little kids.
I don't think the problem is the internet though. It can be very addictice, but it says the parents were depressed, so they obviously were unfit parents to begin with. If they didn't become addicted to the internet it could have been drugs or alcohol.

Wow, that just made me choke up. Especially as a new mom it just blows my mind how people can hurt or neglect little kids.I don't think the problem is the internet though. It can be very addictice, but it says the parents were depressed, so they obviously were unfit parents to begin with. If they didn't become addicted to the internet it could have been drugs or alcohol.

While it's a very sad event, and it's also true that people can be connected far easier than ever before, I don't find it to be some thing that will adversley affect kids for the most part. There will always be exceptions, however I find it to be much the same as drinking, gambling or doing drugs. If people find they "have to be connected" they'd likely have found some other vice that would have served their addictive personality anyways if they couldn't be connected.

5 years

you know...it can happen anywhere. not just in korea. although, this is an extreme case. i'm not surprised parents do this- neglecting their child(ren) for their macs, iphone, facebook, twitter, and so forth. unfortunately this is a devastating effect of technology. i also think that people have become more numb to humanity over the past couple of gens. it's become a sad sad world.